The present invention relates to an apparatus for making partitions for containers and to components of such an apparatus.
Divider structures or partitions for containers are known and commonly employ slotted interlocking cards or strips which, when interconnected, define cells for receiving objects such as bottles, containers or other items and for separating the objects from one another within a box or other structure. For example, two cards may be interlocked with one another and when positioned orthogonal to one another in a box and together with the walls of the box, define four cells for receiving objects. The partitions may be made of any number of first cards in a set of first cards and any number of second cards in a set of second cards, which the sets of first and second cards interfitting with and typically being orthogonal to one another when the partition is in use in a container.
The partition structures formed of the sets of first and second cards typically may be collapsed together when not installed in a box or other container so that the first and second cards forming the partition structure extend generally in the same direction. Conversely, when in use the first and second cards typically extend at right angles to one another. The first and second cards may be different from one another, for example the first cards may be longer than the second cards, but in some cases, for example when a partition structure is to be used with a square box or case, the first and second cards may be identical in length.
In general, it is desirable to minimize the cost of partitions since they are typically disposed of or recycled following their use. Consequently, those who pack bottles or other objects into partition structure containing boxes naturally do not want to spend more money than necessary on these partition structures.
In a common approach, partition structures have been manufactured utilizing a series of separate operations. These separate operations have including the separate formation of the first sets of partition strips, the separate formation of the second sets of partition strips, and the separate assembly of these partition strips. It is common for separate pieces of equipment to be employed for each of the separate operations with labor being required to transfer the first and second cards from the location where they are formed to an assembly location.
A single pass partition manufacturing machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,401 to Peters, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, is also known. In this machine, the first and second types of partition strips are manufactured and delivered to an assembly location of the machine where the partitions or divider structures are assembled. By single pass, it is meant that the same machine manufactures both types of partition cards and assembles them. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,691,859 and 3,728,925 to Peters disclose components which may be included in such a partition manufacturing machine.
Although the Peters"" approach offers some advantages over approaches wherein first partition strips and second partition strips are formed at separate locations and in a separate operation from a divider structure assembly operation, a need nevertheless exists for an improved partition manufacturing apparatus and in components useful in such an apparatus.
In accordance with one aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus is disclosed for making partitions for containers. The partitions each have a first set of first cards and a second set of second cards. The first set includes at least one first card having at least one first card slot, and typically includes two or three of the first cards each with a number of slots which corresponds to the number of second cards in the second set which is to be included in the partition. The second set includes at least one second or crosscard having at least one second card slot. More specifically, the second set typically includes two or three cards with each second crosscard of the set having a number of slots which corresponds to the number of first cards included in the set of first cards which is to be assembled with the second cards into the partition. The slots of the first and second cards interfit with one another, in a conventional manner to form a partition. For convenience, the first cards may sometimes herein be called long cards and the second cards may be called short cards or crosscards even though the first cards may be of the same length as the second cards. Again, the number of cards of each type included in the partition may be varied with a typical maximum number of cards being three long cards and five short cards, although this is subject to change depending upon the partition that is being assembled.
A first embodiment of a partition manufacturing apparatus may include a first card stock supplier adapted to deliver an elongated first band of first card stock forming material from a first roll of such material. The first stock supplier typically includes a first card stock advancer which is adapted to advance the first band from the first roll. A first slot former is adapted to repetitively engage the first band and cut the first card slots in successive sections of the first band. Each slotted section corresponds to a portion of the first band from which a respective individual first card is to be formed.
Although multiple first band feeders may be used, at least one first band feeder may be provided in this embodiment and is adapted to selectively advance the first band past the first slot former. A first card singulator selectively severs the sections of the first band into the respective first cards. The first band feeder may comprise a single feeder positioned between the first slot former and first card singulator. Although the first band feeder may vary in form, in a specific example the first band feeder comprises first and second elongated rolls defining a nip therebetween through which the first band passes. These rolls may include elongated lands separated by valleys with a nip being defined between the lands of the rolls. In one specific example, the rolls may be formed by machining elongated gears with the teeth of the gears forming the lands of the rolls.
As an aspect of an embodiment, a first card transporter is adapted to receive the singulated first cards from the first card singulator at a first location and to transport the singulated first cards from the first location to a delivery location. A card assembly station is provided with a first card receiving location and a second card insertion location. The card assembly station includes a card mover, such as a conveyor, adapted to move respective sets of first cards from the first card receiving location to the second card insertion location. A first card transferor is adapted to transfer first cards from the delivery location of the first card transporter to the first card receiving location. The first card transferor may comprise a plurality of pairs of rollers, with one pair of rollers being provided for each first card to be included in the set of first cards. The pairs of rollers are shifted to position each pair of rollers in engagement with a respective one of the first cards so as to transfer the set of first cards as a complete set from the first card transporter to the first card receiving location of the card assembly station.
A second card stock supplier may be included in this embodiment. The second card stock supplier is adapted to provide an elongated second band of second card stock forming material from a second roll of such material. The second card stock supplier may include a second card stock advancer which is adapted to advance the band of second card stock forming material from the second roll. A second slot former repetitively engages the second band and cuts at least one second card slot, and typically more such slots depending on the structure of the partition being manufactured, in successive sections of the second band. Each section of the second band corresponds to a portion of the second band from which a respective second card or crosscard is to be formed.
At last one second band feeder, which may be like the first band feeder, may be provided and adapted to selectively advance the second band past the second slot former. A second card singulator, which may be like the first card singulator, is adapted to selectively sever the sections of the second band into the respective second cards and to deliver the singulated second cards to the second card insertion location at which the first and second cards are combined to form the partition.
A programmed computer controller of the embodiment is coupled to the first card stock supplier and is operable to control the first card advancer, coupled to the first slot former and operable to control the first slot former to cut the first card slots, coupled to the at least one first band feeder and operable to control the advancing of the first band past the first slot former, coupled to the first card singulator and operable to control the first card singulator to control the severing of the sections of the first band into the respective first cards, coupled to the first card transporter and operable to control the first card transporter to control the transportation of the singulated first cards from the first location to the delivery location, coupled to the first card transferor to control the delivery of sets of first cards, which may be delivered individually or more preferably as an entire set, from the delivery location to the first card receiving location, coupled to the card mover and operable to control the moving of the sets of first cards from the first card receiving location to the second card insertion location, coupled to the second card stock supplier and operable to control the second card advancer, coupled to the second slot former and operable to control the second slot former to cut the second card slots, coupled to the at least one second band feeder and operable to control the advancing of the second band past the second slot former, coupled to the second card singulator and operable to control the severing of the sections of the second band into the respective second cards and to control the delivery of singulated second cards to the second card insertion location, whereby the computer controller is operable to control the production of completed partitions.
The operation of the apparatus may be automatic to provide first and second cards of the desired height and with the desired number of slots and which are assembled together into the assembled partitions. Semiautomatic operation, although less desirable, may also be employed by the apparatus with an operator being required to perform certain steps during partition formation. The conveyor may include adjustment mechanisms which are manually adjusted to provide desired spacing between sets of first cards and also desired spacing between individual cards of a set. In addition, the apparatus may be operated in a xe2x80x9cjogxe2x80x9d mode with individual components of the apparatus being indexed or advanced one step at a time until the apparatus is in a desired condition to commence automatic operation.
Individual parameters may be keyed in or otherwise entered into the controller from a data entry device to establish the conditions of operation of the apparatus for particular partition structures. Alternatively, a lookup table approach may also be used. That is, because partition structures tend to repeat themselves in terms of dimensions and numbers of first and second cards, the settings for the various components of the apparatus may be established for a given partition structure. Consequently, in this case an operator need only specify the type of partition being manufactured with the program controller determining from the type of partition and a lookup table the appropriate apparatus settings for manufacturing the specific partition structure.
As a further aspect of an embodiment, one or both of the first and second card stock suppliers, and typically both of these suppliers, may include a roll carrier adapted to rotatively carry a respective roll of the card stock forming material; a card forming material advancer adapted to rotate the roll to deliver the band from the roll; first and second band supports, such as rollers, each adapted to support the band with the band being delivered from the second support toward a slot former; the card forming advancer rotating the roll at a variable rate to provide a festoon of card forming material extending downwardly between the first and second band supports; a plurality of festoon sensors each positioned at a different elevation and adapted to sense the presence of the festoon at the elevation of the sensor, each sensor providing a sensor output signal indicating the sensing of the festoon by the sensor; and wherein the controller is responsive to the sensor output signals and adapted to control the card forming material advancer to control the rate of delivery of the band in response to the sensor output signals. In a specific form, at least three of such sensors are provided with the first sensor being of a first elevation, the second sensor being of a second elevation below the first elevation, and the third sensor being at a third elevation below the second elevation. In this case, detection of a festoon by the third sensor indicates the festoon which is larger than a festoon which is detected by either of the first and second sensors and not by the third sensor. In addition, in this case the detection of the festoon by the second sensor indicates a festoon which is larger than a festoon which is detected by the first sensor and not by the second sensor. Moreover, in this exemplary approach, the controller is operable to control the card forming material advancer to control the rate of delivery of the band of card forming material at a first rate in the event the festoon is detected by the second sensor and not by the third sensor, at a second rate which is greater than the first rate in the event the festoon is detected by the first sensor and not by the second sensor, and at a third rate which is less than the first rate in the event the festoon is detected by the third sensor. In a specific approach, the second rate may be about two times the first rate and the third rate about one half the first rate. A fourth sensor may also be included and positioned below the third sensor. The controller may be operable to interrupt the delivery of the band of material in the event a signal from the fourth sensor indicates the festoon is detected by the fourth sensor.
The card forming material advancer may include first and second material feed rolls which form a nip therebetween with a band of material passing through the nip and wherein at least one of the material feed rolls is rotatable by a motor to pull the elongated band from the roll to thereby rotate the roll as the respective band of card forming material is pulled from the roll. A computer controlled motor, such as a variable frequency motor, may be used to drive the rotation of the material feed rolls. The controller may be coupled to the sensors for receiving the sensor output signals and to the motor for controlling the operation of the motor in response to the sensor output signals.
One or both of the first and second card singulators may include a knife and knife actuator. The knife actuator may be adapted to selectively move the knife into engagement with the band of material to sever the sections into the individual cards. The controller may be coupled to the knife actuator and programmed to control the knife actuator and thereby the knife to control the severing of the band of material into an individual card. The operation of the knife may be coordinated with the operation of the card material feeder by the controller. In addition, the first card transporter may have a plurality of card holders which receive and transport the singulated first cards from the first location to the delivery location. In one specific approach, the controller may be programmed to cause the first material feeder to advance a respective section of the first band through the first slot former and into a respective card holder prior to severing of the section from the first band of material into the individual first card. In addition, a first card detector may be positioned to detect the presence of the respective sections of the first band of material in the respective card holders. The first card detector may provide a card presence signal indicating the presence of a section of the first band of material in a card holder. The controller may be adapted to receive the card presence signals and to interrupt the operation of the apparatus in the event a card presence signal is not received prior to the time the knife actuator is actuated to sever a card from the first band of material.
The knife actuator may have first and second spaced apart knife supporting arms coupled to the associated knife. The knife supporting arms may be supported for reciprocation in position such that the knife severs one of the sections into a card as the associated knife supporting arms reciprocate. Each knife actuator may include an eccentric coupled to the knife supporting arms so as to reciprocate the knife supporting arms upon rotation of the eccentric. A clutch brake controlled by the controller may be used to selectively couple the motor to the eccentric to drive the eccentric and reciprocate the knife supporting arms in this specific embodiment.
In one embodiment, the first card transporter comprises first and second spaced apart rotatable card holder support wheels each having a periphery. The wheels are driven in rotation by a transporter drive. The transporter drive may include a transporter drive shaft, a transporter drive motor, a first endless transporter drive loop coupled to the transporter drive shaft and to the first wheel and a second endless transporter drive loop coupled to the transporter drive shaft and to the second wheel. The card holders carried by the first card transporter may each comprise a set of first and second card supports, such as elongated tubes with card gripping elements mounted thereto, with the card supports being positioned to extend at least in part between the first and second drive loops. A plurality of sets of first and second card supports, each of the first and second card supports defining a card receiving opening therebetween, are coupled to the first and second drive loops at spaced locations along the drive loops. The controller selectively couples the transporter drive motor to the transporter drive shaft to advance the first and second drive transporter loops to position the card receiving opening of a card holder in the card receiving position. In addition, the controller selectively couples the transporter drive motor to the transporter drive shaft to advance the card containing holders to the card transfer location. In one specific construction, each first and second card support is positioned on the first and second wheels such that a majority of each card when positioned in the card holder is located inwardly of the periphery of the card holder support wheels.
The apparatus may include a first card transfer sensor positioned to sense the presence of a card in the first card transporter that should have been transferred by the card transferor. The card transfer sensor may produce a card transfer error output signal upon detection of a first card that should have been transferred. The controller may interrupt the operation of the apparatus in response to the card transfer error output signal.
The card mover in one embodiment may comprise a conveyor for moving a set of first cards from the first card receiving location to the second card insertion location at which second cards are inserted into the set of first cards. The conveyor may comprise an elongated conveyor frame having a longitudinal or lengthwise axis. First and second spaced apart endless drive chain loops may extend lengthwise along the frame with each drive chain loop being comprised of a plurality of interconnected chain links. The links may include insert receiving openings. At least one of the drive chain loops is moveable in a transverse direction relative to the longitudinal axis of the conveyor so as to permit the spreading apart of the drive chain loops. A plurality of spaced apart partition movers may extend transversely at least partially between the first and second drive chain loops. The partition movers in one example each have first and second end portions. Respective first and second chain couplers are provided at the respective first and second end portions of each such partition mover. The first and second chain couplers each include at least one coupling insert sized for insertion into respective insert receiving openings of the first and second drive chain loops to releaseably couple the partition movers to the first and second drive chain loops. A chain driver is coupled to the first and second drive chain loops and adapted to move the drive chain loops, and thereby the coupled partition movers and sets of first cards engaged by the partition movers, along the conveyor with the partition movers being movable from the first card receiving location to the second card insertion location. With this construction the spacing between the partition movers along the drive chain loops is adjustable by spreading apart the chains, detaching the partition movers to be shifted and recoupling the partition movers to the chains at the desired spacing. In this manner first cards of varying lengths may readily be accommodated. That is, for longer first cards the partition movers may be spaced further apart than the spacing used for shorter first cards.
The conveyor may also include an elongated guide with upper and lower guide portions which receive and support each set of first cards in an upright orientation as partition card movers shift the respective sets of first cards along the conveyor. The elongated guide may define a plurality of lengthwise extending guide slots. The guide slots at the first card receiving location may be of a first transverse spacing to establish a first transverse spacing between a set of first cards. In addition, the guide slots at the second card insertion location may be of a second transverse spacing. The second transverse spacing may be the same as, or may differ from, the first transverse spacing. The guide may also include a transition section between the first card receiving location and the second card insertion location. The transverse spacing between the guide slots in the transition section may be adjustable to transition the spacing along the transition section from the first transverse spacing at the first card receiving location to the second transverse spacing at the second card insertion location in the event the first transverse spacing differs from the second transverse spacing. The transition section may comprise plural elongated individual transition sections each defining a single card guide slot with the transition sections begin bendable to adjust the transverse spacing between the guide slots. At least one jack screw or other adjustment mechanism may be coupled to the transition sections and used to bend the transition sections to adjust the transverse spacing between the card guide slots.
The apparatus may include one or more sensors positioned to sense the operation of the apparatus and to indicate a potential jam or fault condition to the controller. The controller may be responsive to these sensors for interrupting the operation of the apparatus in response to the sensed signals. These sensors may include one or more of the following: a first sensor positioned to sense the insertion of first cards into the first card transporter at the first location and for producing a first sensor output signal indicating the presence of the first card received by the first card transporter at the first location; a second sensor positioned to sense the delivery of first cards by the first card transferor from the delivery location to the first card receiving location and for producing a second sensor output signal upon detection of a failure to deliver a first card from the delivery location to the first card receiving location; a third sensor for detecting the receipt of first cards at the first card receiving location and for producing a third sensor output signal in the event a first card transferred from the delivery location to the first card receiving location is determined not to have been fully received at the first card receiving location; and a fourth sensor positioned to detect the insertion of a second card into the set of first cards at the second card insertion location and for producing a fourth output signal indicating the failure of a second card to be inserted into the set of first cards at the second card insertion location. The controller may selectively interrupt the operation of the apparatus in response to fault or error indicatons determined from the first, second, third, and fourth output signals. The apparatus may include first and second card stock delivery motors, first and second band feeder motors, a transporter drive motor, and a card mover drive motor each with respective fault outputs indicating a fault condition. The controller may be coupled to each of the fault outputs and be responsive to fault signals at any of such outlets to selectively interrupt the operation of the apparatus upon the occurrence of a fault condition.
As another aspect of an embodiment, the first and second band feeder motors may include a respective servo motor operable in response to a control signal from the controller to cause the respective first and second band feeders to advance the first and second bands of material; the first card transporter may include a transporter drive clutch brake operable in response to a control signal from the controller to couple the first card transporter drive motor to the first card transporter to transport the singulated first cards from the first location to the delivery location; and wherein the card mover may include a card mover servo motor operable in response to a signal from the controller to couple the card mover drive motor to the card mover so as to move the respective sets of first cards from the first card receiving location to the second card insertion location. In addition, the first and second slot formers may each include a slot cutter, a slot drive motor and a clutch brake operable in response to a signal from the controller to cause the slot drive motor to operate the slot cutter to cut the respective first and second slots. In addition, the first and second card singulators may each include a singulator motor, a clutch brake and a knife coupled to the motor by the clutch brake. The clutch brake of each singulator may be operable in response to a respective signal from the controller to couple the singulator drive motor to the knife to cause the severing of the band of material into an individual card.
The detailed description and drawings set forth additional details of embodiments of a partition manufacturing machine in accordance with the present invention as well as of components of such an apparatus. The present invention is directed toward new and unobvious aspects of a partition manufacturing apparatus and of components thereof individually as well as in combination with one another, as set forth in the claims below.